Ottawa, Ontario - During testimony at a House of Commons hearing, Brig-General Peter Atkinson agreed with Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant that insurgents are using comments made by opponents to the Canadian mission in Afghanistan to undermine our troops serving in that country.
“While Liberal Senators and other members of their party may think their public comments do no harm, the reality is the opposite. With CFB Petawawa preparing for the next rotation to Afghanistan, military families are upset that the mission is being used as a campaign issue. Their party, by making the mission in Afghanistan a wedge issue, will put lives at risk unnecessarily,” stated Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke MP Cheryl Gallant.
Standing Committee on National Defence, February 5, 2008.
Mrs. Cheryl Gallant (Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, Conservative): You mentioned several methods used by the insurgents, IEDs and executions indicating a tone of desperation on their part. You did mention propaganda, but soldiers returning from Afghanistan have been expressing their frustrations over the misinformation that insurgents successfully infiltrate western and the North American media web. The insurgents want ISAF forces out of Afghanistan so they can once again take over the government and enslave the Afghans into servitude and the drug trade.
Would you please elaborate on the ways and the kinds of things the insurgents do and use in North American communications to sway public opinion away from North Americans fighting the war on terror in Afghanistan?
BGen P. Atkinson (Special Advisor to Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier): That's a very complex question and I can answer part of it.
First of all, they are masters at information operations. Just because we are sitting inside the middle of Afghanistan, in the mountains, in the desert, and in an area where you could argue there is very little communications, there is cellular technology and they have access to the Internet through satellites. When there's a story printed in the Ottawa Citizen today, no matter what it is, it's being read. If it's in the BBC News or from somewhere else, they've got it.
They know how to take and plant false stories, how to push stories out and everything else. Their ability to react to things on the ground is something that is very practised. They have used it against us. It's something that we combat and work on. It's called information operations. We do it to them and they do it to us.
In the military there's a thing called the OODA Loop. The OODA Loop is you trying to get inside the decision cycle of your opponent and trying to stay one step ahead of him. We try to do this all the time.
As I said, through information operations they use everything at their disposal. They can make an allegation that we have bombed a mosque. They can make an allegation that we have shot civilians, or something. We have to then go and defend it and it depends on how it is reported. They will use everything at their disposal to get out in front of the Afghan news cycle, the international cycle, and you can assume that anything that is printed or reported they've got and they will attempt to use it to their advantage.
It's very complex and something we work very hard at. It's something they are masters of. We want to be masters, we're not quite there yet, but we work on this all the time.
Mrs. Cheryl Gallant: Part of the call for Canadian troops to return from Afghanistan is perhaps a result of this successful communications war going on with the Taliban and we're falling for it.
BGen P. Atkinson: I would say yes.
Mrs. Cheryl Gallant: Thank you.
Denis Coderre. Lib: Fair enough, thank you. Since the Prime Minister, now he said it's up to you guys to answer our questions, I'd like to simply ask you: why did we stop the transfer of detainees?
BGen P. Atkinson: The situation on the ground--and there's no secret from anyone, because it's out on the public record--on November 5 there was a circumstance that gave the operational command on the ground, General Raush, a concern. We temporarily suspended the transfer of detainees. When the conditions re-establish themselves, then we will recommence.
The details of that are not something I want to get into because it could prejudice what we're doing on the ground.
Hon. Denis Coderre: So, it's okay to have answers from the Dutch, from the Americans, from the others, but in our case there's a problem--that's what you're telling me?
BGen P. Atkinson: I anticipated that we would enter into this area of questioning, and I prepared some thoughts which I'd like to share and I think will be useful to this discussion, if that's all right with you.
Hon. Denis Coderre: Yes.
BGen P. Atkinson: Providing the Taliban with operational information on detainees would only serve to support their efforts, which would jeopardize the safety of our troops operating in Afghanistan. In assessing the possible harm that could result from the release of information, the Canadian Forces carefully assesses what I call the mosaic effect, meaning that information cannot be viewed in isolation.
In the hands of an informed reader, unrelated pieces of information, which may not in and of themselves be sensitive, form together to create a very comprehensive picture. This is analogous to a road map, which very clearly shows you not only the start point but also the destination, and each turn in the road and every critical junction, which allows you to view each of these segments of the map independently. They might not be considered vital, but as you learn each of these pieces of information and you fit them together, soon you have the entire map, outlining the critical points that can be affected, thereby derailing the entire course of action and preventing you from reaching your destination.
Mrs. Cheryl Gallant: Thank you.
On January 22nd, 2008, the Independent Panel on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan, chaired by former Deputy Prime Minister John Manley, issued a Report. On January 31st, 2008 the Opposition led by Stephane Dion, voted against a Government motion for a complete, open, public examination of that Report, in an effort to deny Canadians the truth about why our country is in Afghanistan.
On February 8, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the creation of a Cabinet Committee on Afghanistan and an Afghanistan Task Force within the Privy Council Office to better coordinate and ensure the effectiveness of Canada’s activities in Afghanistan.
The Government also announced it is giving notice of a motion to extend Canada’s commitment to the United Nations mandated mission in Afghanistan until the end of 2011 on the condition that Canada can secure a partner that will provide a battle group of approximately 1,000, as well medium helicopter lift capacity and high performance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.
The announcements represent action by the Government to move forward on the future of Canada's mission, and to respond directly to recommendations the Independent Panel on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan outlined in its report of January 22, 2008.
